Pete05
Premium
- 7,059
- Melbourne, Australia
Brabham's debut season had been fairly successful and with renewed confidence, designer Ron Tauranac set about designing 3 new cars for 1963 including a sports racer and a Formula One car.
Dubbed the BT7, the 1963 F1 racer was very much a development of the original BT3.
The suspension was slightly revised and the fragile Colotti-Francis gearbox was replaced by a five speed Hewland unit. For the body design, Tauranac consulted Jaguar's Malcolm Sayer, who was renowned for penning up very slippery designs. Two cars were constructed; one for the new team number one, Dan Gurney and the second for team owner, Jack Brabham, who had decided to focus more on managing the team.
ENGINE
Configuration
Coventry Climax FWMV MK 3 90 degree V8
Location
Mid, longitudinally mounted
Construction
Alloy block and head
Displacement
1495 cc / 91.2 cid
Bore / Stroke
67.9mm (2.7") / 51.6mm (2")
Compression
11.5:1
Valvetrain
2 valves / cylinder, DOHC
Fuel feed
Lucas Fuel Injection
Lubrication
Dry sump
Aspiration
Naturally aspirated
Power
195 bhp / 145 kW @ 9500
Torque
160 Nm / 118 ft lbs @ 8000
DRIVETRAIN
Chassis
Multi-tubular spaceframe
Front Suspension
Double wishbones, coil springs over dampers, anti-roll bar
Rear Suspension
Lower wishbones, upper link, twin parallel radius arms, coil springs over dampers, anti-roll bar
Steering
Rack and pinion
Brakes
4 wheel discs, Girling
Gearbox
Hewland HD 5 speed manual
DIMENSIONS
Weight
475 kg / 1047.2 lbs
Wheelbase
2311 mm / 91"
Track F / R
1372 mm (54") / 1295 mm (51")
Dubbed the BT7, the 1963 F1 racer was very much a development of the original BT3.
The suspension was slightly revised and the fragile Colotti-Francis gearbox was replaced by a five speed Hewland unit. For the body design, Tauranac consulted Jaguar's Malcolm Sayer, who was renowned for penning up very slippery designs. Two cars were constructed; one for the new team number one, Dan Gurney and the second for team owner, Jack Brabham, who had decided to focus more on managing the team.
ENGINE
Configuration
Coventry Climax FWMV MK 3 90 degree V8
Location
Mid, longitudinally mounted
Construction
Alloy block and head
Displacement
1495 cc / 91.2 cid
Bore / Stroke
67.9mm (2.7") / 51.6mm (2")
Compression
11.5:1
Valvetrain
2 valves / cylinder, DOHC
Fuel feed
Lucas Fuel Injection
Lubrication
Dry sump
Aspiration
Naturally aspirated
Power
195 bhp / 145 kW @ 9500
Torque
160 Nm / 118 ft lbs @ 8000
DRIVETRAIN
Chassis
Multi-tubular spaceframe
Front Suspension
Double wishbones, coil springs over dampers, anti-roll bar
Rear Suspension
Lower wishbones, upper link, twin parallel radius arms, coil springs over dampers, anti-roll bar
Steering
Rack and pinion
Brakes
4 wheel discs, Girling
Gearbox
Hewland HD 5 speed manual
DIMENSIONS
Weight
475 kg / 1047.2 lbs
Wheelbase
2311 mm / 91"
Track F / R
1372 mm (54") / 1295 mm (51")
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